Venetian blind



March 17, 1942. B. WALKER VENETIAN BLIND Filed June 17, 1940 o M Q IN VEN TOR.

Patented Mar. 17, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICB- VENETIAN BLIND Brooks Walker, Piedmont, Calif.

Application June 17, 1940, Serial No. 340,919

This invention pertains to improvements in Venetian blind construction and the like, in particular the modifications in the construction of guides for the ends of the slats, which slats are removable because the lifting cords do not pass through a hole in the slats. It also pertains to improvements in the cord arrangement where more than a two-cord lift is desirable to keep the bottom rail from bowing when lifting a heavy load of slats, and at the same time doing this by a construction that allows an odd number of cords to be used and does not necessitate the use of pulleys in the bottom rail, which do not work with'minimum friction when it is necessary for the cords to slide past the folded ladder tape and slat during a raising or lowering operation. The

idea of the present invention is, among other things, to provide a flat guide rail for the edge of the slats, preferably composed of an extra slat of the same or different width asthe horizontal slats in the blind, so that it can be readily manufactured and painted by the same process used in painting the horizontal slats in the blind.. This guide slat can of course be of heavier construction, more like the fascia boards, if added stiffness is required, and serves thetwo-fold purpose of guiding the edges of the slats without the necessity of any clips on the slats, andat the same time substantially shuts out the light streak between the window frame and the ends of the slats in closed position, which usually amounts to an unsealed crack equal to half the width of the horizontal slats or more. This simplified method of securing these side guides to the wall and/or head rails or brackets also forms a porw tion of this invention, as well as an improved method of running the lifting cords where more than two lifting cords are desired, so as to elimihate the necessity of the lifting cords having to slide past the folded tape and a collapsed pile of slats during the raising or lowering operation.

A further improvement allows a two to one lifting leverage on a single cord pull without the necessity of pulleys in the bottom rail, and the use of a lesser number of cords running through the lifting cord lock than the number of cords used to lift or collapse the blind.

Further objects of the invention will become of a head rail and side guide slat showing an alternate form of the invention.

.Figure 3 is a partial plan view of the head rail bracket and side guide shown in Figure 1.

. Figure 4 is a perspective upper plan View part- 'ly cut away, showing another form of the intioularly to Figure 1, 2, and a, m which like numerals of reference refer to corresponding 9 parts, we have a bottom rail 8, supported by ladder tapes 2!! and 2|, which carry slats 9 on the cross bands or ladder runs 20A and 2I- A- The ladder tapes are secured at their'upper end to tilt rail by nails of the ladder tapes.

or other suitable means. The tilt rail is supported in a tilting bracket N and controlled by the.

tilt chain or cord 3IB in a conventional manner. The other end of the tilt rail 30 is supported on a pivot bracket l5A, which may preferably be a part of the lock bracket l5 which carries the pulley l5-B, over which the lifting cords ll pass and are locked in any desired raised position. The ends of the lifting cord pass over pulleys II and I2 in head rail l0 and by grooves in the opposite edges of tilt rail 30 end on the opposite sides of the slats, as described in my U. S.

Patent #2,200,349. issued May 14, 1940, wherein lifting cord Il-B passes in' back of the slats '9 adjacent the inside rear faceof the rear portion more apparent upon reading the claims and specification.

The device is shown by way of illustration on the accompanying drawing, on which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view partly cut away, showing one form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective rear view of a portion of ladder tape 20, and the other end of the lifting cord l'l-A passes by the front edge of slats 9 adjacent the inside face of the front portion of ladder tape 21, thusforming a means for raising the blind without the necessity of any routing in the center or edge of the horizontal slats 9, and still providing a uniform, even,

' straight piling of the slats in their raised position, and a horizontal untilted lifting position for the bottom rail 8 and the slats 9 during the lifting operation.

When a blind of this construction is inside hung, the edge of the window frame acts as an end guide for the slats and shuts out the light in the closed position of the slats 9 around the end' of the slats, and since one of the main features of this type of cord arrangement is to provide a very tight closing blind, as it is not necessary for the lifting cords to pass between the edges of the slats, letting a light streak come through as is common in the usual Venetian blind construction where the lifting cords pass through the holes in the center of the slats, it is important that the light passage around the end of the slats be likewise minimized where substantially complete light control i desired. As most Venetian blinds are outside hung, it is therefore necessary to provide means for guiding the edges of the slats. This has been done in the past by means of a channel section and clips on the end of the slats 9-which engage the channel. However, such channels and clips are troublesome and expensive to manufacture, and do not shut out the light streak at the edge of the slat I therefore propose a construction wherein additional slats (such as 50 and 5|) of the same thickness as the horizontal slats, and of a width to be determined by the designer, be installed in a horizontal position and secured to the window frame, as by brackets 52 and 53 which may be placed at one or more points, depending upon the rigidity of the side guides desired and the length of the side guides. Said guide slat 50 may be secured at its upper end by inserting same in a recess formed integrally with the head rail supporting bracket 40 by stamping out and extending portion ill-A to receive the end of vertical slat 50 and possibly also providing a stop "-3 to prevent the slat 50 from rising too far through this support;

As an alternate form of supporting the upper end of the vertical slat 50 as shown in Figure 2,

a head rail l supported by a simple angle bracket 50, with the end of the head rail l0 extended beyond the end of the horizontal slats, so that a saw slot 64 in head rail I0 is adapted to receive the end of vertical slat 62 to support the upper end of said slat, the lower end being supported to the window frame 56 by brackets similar to 52 or other suitable supports.

It is to be understood that while I have illustrated and described the use of vertical slats with substantially the same cross section as the horizontal slats in the blind, which has the advantage of facilitating the manufacture and painting of same by making it feasible to put them through-the same manufacturingpriming, paintin& and finishing operation as the horizontal slats, said vertical guides may be of thicker cross section similar to the fascia boards, as illustrated in Figure 5, wherein the vertical guide 90 guides the edge of slats 9 and is suitably secured to the window frame 55 by clips such as 52 or by nails 9!, or other suitable meanswhich will provide a suitable anchorage for the vertical guides and at the same time form an effective light seal.

In Figure 4 I have illustrated a construction wherein more than two cords are required to lift the blind suitably and prevent sag in the bottom rail 8. In this case lifting cords l8 and BI pass over pulleys l8--.A and 8IA respectively and down the front edge of the horizontal slats 9 in back of the room side strip of the outside ladder tapes. Lifting cords l1 and 80 pass over pulleys IT-A and 80A respectively and pass down the rear edge of the horizontal slats 9 next to the window side strip of the two center ladder tapes. The other end of these cords 11, I8, 80, and 8| pass around pulley l pivoted to the end of the head rail l0, away from the lifting cord lock II, and are suitably secured to an adjusting multicord attachment of 11, which I have found to be suitably accomplished by passing each cord through three adjacent holes in a metal plate 81. By this means the length of the cords can bereadily adjusted and no knots or other locks are necessary. Plate 81 is suitably secured to a traveling pulley l4. Cord 8B is suitably anchored at 15 to the head rail, as by passing the cord through a hole in the head rail and knotting the end, or other suitable means of anchorage, this cord then goes up through traveling pulley l4 and back through cord lock ll of a conventional type attached to receive one cord. This cord 80 then extends to a point near the bottom rail 8 when the blind is in its lowered position. By this means it can be readily seen that I have provided a means whereby a lesser number of lifting cords passes through the cord lock than is required to lift the blind, while at the same time providing for any number of lifting cords "at the ladder tapes, and still providing a two to one leverage on the lifting cord 80 to lift the blind. A further advantage is the elimination of pulleys in the bottom rail and elimination of the necessity of the lifting cords having to pass the folded ladder tape and closely associated horizontal slats during the raising or lowering operation. That is, by this construction, as soon as the ladder tapes are folded, no further motion at this point is required by the lifting tapes, the lifting tapes only moving by the horizontal slats and ladder tapes prior to the time the ladder tapes are folded. By this construction one can easily use three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine lifting cords, as may be deemed necessary, with only one cord going through the lifting cord lock.

Where three or more cords areused by the horizontal slats, and the height of the blind is more than the width, it may be necessary to run all of these cords through the cord lock, which could then be located adjacent the location of pulley I6 (pulley 16 would not then be necessary) and a cord equalizer such as H installed just below the multi-cord lock when the blind is in its lowered position, and a single or double cord extended from the equalizer to the operator.

Suitable end guides such as 50 and 5| are to be used with this construction, as the slots are readily removable for cleaning and painting and will close tightly, and it is desirable to shut out the end light streak in case the blinds are outside hung.

It is to be understood that any form of edged guide and associated support can be used in connection with Figure 4 as have been described in connection with the foregoing figures.

Figure 5 shows an alternate construction of the side guide, in which the side guide 90 is specially milled to provide a tacking lip for nails or screws 9|. It is to be understood that this lip' can be run from a smaller section of lumber than if turned away. The lip 90'A may be provided to form a more complete light closure for the slats and also to prevent the slats from blowing out'into the room when in a closed position in windy weather. The back view of this slat can be designed with decorative contour similar to fascia board designs. It can be seen that this will provide not only an end guide for the slats against lateral displacement, but also a vertical guide such as is necessary in windy weather or on aswinging installation, as on a door.

While I have described and illustrated several embodiments of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions, additions, and substitutions may be made in the construction of the apparatus and that the apparatus may be put to uses other than those described withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended v brackets for supporting saidheader bar on said frame; said bracket having integral holding means, a plurality of horizontally disposed slats; vertically disposed tapes for, supporting said slats on said rail, and a pair of vertical slats releasably secured to said brackets by said holding 'rneans and extending downwardly adjacent the frame.

ends of said horizontal slats for sealing the ends of the slats to said window frame.

2. A Venetian blind attachable ,to a window frame, including in combination, a header rail, brackets forlsupporting said header bar'on said frame, said bracket having integral holding means, a plurality of horizontally disposed slats, vertically disposed tapes for supporting said slats.

on saidrail, and a pair of vertical slats releasably secured to said brackets by said holding means and extending downwardly adjacent the ends of said horizontal. slats forsealing the ends of the slats to said window frame, and securing means on the lower portion of the pair of vertical slats which are attachable to said window BROOKS WALKER.

Patent No. 2,276,897 Granted March 17, 1942 BROOKS WALKER- The above entitled patent was extended July 24, 1951, under the provisions of the ad of June 30, 1950, for 6 years and 214 days from the expiration of the original term thereof.

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